Lamenters Update: Painting Yellow

I've had a lot of folks asking questions about the way I've done the yellow armor on my Lamenters. Well, here's my rough run-down. Unfortunately the transitions aren't incredibly obvious the photos below (or perhaps that's a good thing) but I hope it helps.

Note: My thanks to Brice Cocanour, Damon Drescher, and Caleb Wisseuback, who have all done some lovely yellows before and let me in on a few of their secrets.

1. After priming the model in white, I basecoat it with GW's Averland Sunset. I like this color, but sometimes it'll go on a little unevenly, take your time with it. For my Assault Marines, Dreadnought, and Storm Raven I'm planning on putting this layer down with an airbrush.

2. To ensure an even, solid coverage, I highlight the model with a mix of GW Averland Sunset and VGC Sun Yellow.

3. The next highlighting stage is with VGC Sun Yellow.

4. The final highlighting stage is a mix of VGC Sun Yellow and VMC Pale Sand (I love Pale Sand, a fantastic color that gets used all the time).

After all the highlighting is complete, it's on to the shading. This is where I was in unfamiliar territory as the vast bulk of my painting has always been working up from the shade to the highlight, but it was certainly fun learning how to work this way.

5. I began shading with a mix of GW Averland Sunset and GW Skrag Brown, adding more Skrag Brown as I went along. This stage is actually about three or four passes, adding more depth each time.

6. This stage is for adding the final depth shade, a thinned wash or two of VGC Charred Brown. I paid particular attention to the corners of the shoulder pad and the rear of the greaves.

7. And the next step is to tidy up everything with some VGC Black.

Well, I hope that sheds a bit of light on how I've been painting these guys. I'm pretty happy so far with the progress I've made. The real test will be the Storm Raven with its large, flat panels.

Wish me luck.

Cheers
Dave